Tue, Nov 19, 2019 page10

• World News Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  TECHNOLOGY

  Microsoft updates provisions

  Microsoft Corp yesterday said it was updating the privacy provisions of its commercial cloud contracts after European regulators found its deals with EU institutions failed to protect data in line with EU law. The European Data Protection Supervisor in April opened an investigation to assess whether Microsoft’s contracts with the European Commission and other EU institutions met data protection rules. It last month raised concerns about compliance. “We will increase our data protection responsibilities for a subset of processing that Microsoft engages in when we provide enterprise services,” Microsoft said in a statement.

  AVIATION

  Boeing to make MAX sale

  Boeing Co is in talks to sell 737 MAX aircraft to Indian carrier SpiceJet Ltd, according to a person familiar with the matter, in what would be a Dubai Airshow coup for the grounded narrow-body plane. The discussions are ongoing and the size of the order has not been determined, the person said. While the talks could still fall apart, a deal might be announced as soon as this week in Dubai, the person said. The MAX, a global workhorse on shorter routes, has been idled since March in the wake of two deadly crashes.

  HONG KONG

  Home sales plummet

  Home sales plunged over the weekend as increasingly violent protests shut down parts of the territory. A boost to property sales last month from the relaxation of mortgage rules has proven short-lived as the protests escalated. The number of transactions in 15 housing estates tracked by Midland Realty International Ltd (美聯物業) slumped 78 percent over the weekend from a month earlier. “The unpredictable social events have intensified in the past few days, affecting apartment visits for potential buyers,” Midland residential department chief executive officer Sammy Po (布少明) said. “Buyers have turned more cautious,” he said.

  JAPAN

  Electronic money catches on

  Almost one-fifth of households use electronic money for small purchases, a survey by a central bank-affiliated research institute showed, up from a year earlier and a sign that the country’s cash-hoarding culture is changing. In the survey published yesterday and conducted during June and July, 18.5 percent of households said they used electronic money, such as smartphone apps and debit card payments, on shopping trips where ￥1,000 (US$9.18) or less is spent, up from 15.4 percent the previous year. Among single-person households — 43 percent of whom are in their 20s and 30s — the ratio was much higher at 35.6 percent.

  MACROECONOMY

  Global recovery expected

  A combination of easing trade tensions and easier monetary policy is expected lift global growth from the first quarter of next year, according to economists at Morgan Stanley. Emerging markets would drive the recovery, given the late-cycle stage that US growth is in, they said. “A 1Q20 recovery is on the cards,” the US bank’s economists led by Chetan Ahya wrote in a note. “Global growth should recover from 1Q20, reversing the downtrend of the past seven quarters as trade tensions and monetary policy are easing simultaneously for the first time since the downtrend began.” Risks remain skewed to the downside, including the potential for more tariffs, the corporate credit risk and uncertainty around the US elections, the note said.
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